STAMFORD — The person who will guide the city’s public schools in the months after Superintendent Winifred Hamilton’s departure at the end of this year will not be a permanent choice.

Jackie Heftman, president of the Board of Education, announced to the public Tuesday night that the board intends to hire an interim superintendent who can shadow Hamilton for some portion of her last month on the job. The interim will be chosen with the help of a yet-to-be-determined search firm.

“The firm that we choose will help us find an interim superintendent, who we hope to hire sometime in December,” Heftman said at Tuesday night’s board meeting.

Hamilton’s last day on the job is scheduled for Dec. 31.

More Information

The following eight firms responded to the district’s request for proposals to search for the next school superintendent. District officials said Wednesday they expected a contract to be signed within a week.

Atlantic Research Partners

CABE Search Services

CES

Hazaard, Young, Attea and Associates

McPherson and Jacobson LLC

M/Oppenheim Associates

New England School Development

Ray and Associates, Inc.

The timing of the selection of Hamilton’s successor has come under scrutiny in recent months, since the resignation of Republican John Leydon ensured that more than half the seats on the nine-board would be up for election in November.

Heftman initially told The Advocate she hoped to have a new schools head in place by Jan. 1, in time for Hamilton’s departure. Asked in July if the upcoming election altered the search timeline, Heftman said, “We can’t wait for the new board to come on to do anything.”

In recent weeks, however, the tone of conversation on the board has become more favorable toward delaying interviews of a permanent superintendent until the board’s new members are seated on Dec 1.

Discussing the matter at a committee meeting last month, Heftman expressed her agreement with that sentiment, as voiced by board member Polly Rauh.

“The last thing you want is to have someone selected by the old board and then have potential turnover of half the board,” Rauh said, who is running for re-election as an unaffiliated candidate.

The quest for the firm that will help select both the interim and permanent superintendents, meanwhile, is ongoing. Last week, the board interviewed representatives from three companies that were whittled down from the eight that responded to July’s solicitation for search firms. District officials would not comment on which three firms had been interviewed.

Heftman, whose seat is not up for election, did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. Schools spokeswoman Sharon Beadle quoted Heftman as saying that the board expected to sign a contract with a search firm “within a week.”

After the firm is selected, Heftman said at Tuesday’s meeting, it will begin meeting with focus groups of schools staff, students, parents and community members to determine what qualities are being sought in the district’s next leader. Based on that information, and the school board’s own requirements, the firm will make recommendations from its roster of candidates.

No timeline was given for the selection of a permanent superintendent.

Hamilton announced her retirement in April amid criticism of her handling of a teacher’s sexual misconduct with a student. Her decision to step down marks the end of a 46-year career with the district.

Heftman said Tuesday that the district would recognize Hamilton’s retirement with an event at Giovanni’s steakhouse in Darien Oct. 21. She encouraged those who wished to attend to contact Beadle at the district’s central office.

“She keeps insisting that she doesn’t want any speeches,” Heftman said of the superintendent, “but I don't think that’s going to happen. I'm sure that somebody will be saying something about how her career has progressed.”